South Korea host world first Ski Robot Challenge

WHY watch humans ski in the Winter Olympics, when you can watch robots ski.

Robots, or ski-bots, had their very own “Olympics” in South Korea.

The world first event, The Edge of Robot: Ski Robot Challenge, was held just outside of PyeongChang at Welli Hilli ski resort on Monday.

Eight humanoid robots, created by universities and organisations, tested their abilities down a beginner’s alpine slope. The results were both impressive and, at times, hilarious.

To qualify in the competition, Reuters reported the robots had to be at least 50cm tall, have joint movements like humans and be able to hold ski poles – some of the little robots were even kitted out in ski clothes.

According to Reuters, the robots were built with camera sensors to detect the flag poles as they skied down the slope, but not all of the robots could make a clean run.

Videos of the robots crashing into flags and tumbling down the slope, proved popular on social media.

But why create a robot ski challenge? Well, an event coordinator told Reuters they hoped the challenge would showcase South Korea’s robotic technology to the world.